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D-Backs Release Carson Kelly

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The Diamondbacks have released Carson Kelly, according to the transaction tracker at MLB.com. That was the expected outcome after Arizona designated him for assignment on Sunday. Kelly has over five years of major league service, so he could’ve refused a minor league assignment while retaining his salary in any event.

Kelly’s tenure with the D-Backs officially comes to a close. Acquired alongside Luke Weaver and Andrew Young in the lopsided Paul Goldschmidt trade, Kelly played parts of five seasons in the desert. He started reasonably well, hitting 18 home runs during the 2019 campaign and rebounding from a down shortened season with a strong .260/.385/.460 start through the first couple months in ’21.

An errant pitch fractured Kelly’s right wrist that June. He never seemed to fully recover, hitting .221/.297/.364 across 172 plate appearances down the stretch. He followed up with a middling .211/.282/.334 showing in 354 trips to the dish last season. The Diamondbacks nevertheless tendered him an arbitration contract but acquired Gabriel Moreno to take over as the primary backstop last winter.

Kelly’s efforts to solidify himself as the #2 option were again derailed by a hit-by-pitch. He broke his right arm in Spring Training and was out of action into the second week of June. Kelly appeared in 33 games over the last couple months but continued to scuffle, hitting .226/.283/.298 in 92 trips to the plate.

Arizona has elected to go with José Herrera as Moreno’s backup. Assuming Kelly clears release waivers, the Snakes will remain on the hook for the approximate $942K remaining on his $4.275MM salary. At that point, another team could add him for the prorated portion of the $720K league minimum through season’s end. If Kelly catches on elsewhere this season, he’d technically be eligible for arbitration for 2024, though he’d be a non-tender candidate in all likelihood.

Jimmy Yacabonis Elects Free Agency

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August 15: Yacabonis has elected free agency, according to the transaction log at MLB.com.

August 14: Before this evening’s win over the Pirates, the Mets reinstated Sam Coonrod from the 60-day injured list. New York placed Josh Walker on the 15-day IL to clear an active roster spot while recalling reliever John Curtiss and placing him on the 60-day IL in a 40-man move. Additionally, New York sent righty Jimmy Yacabonis outright to Triple-A Syracuse after he was designated for assignment over the weekend.

Coonrod returned to throw a scoreless inning of relief in his season debut. The right-hander had missed the entire season after suffering a severe lat strain in Spring Training. Claimed off waivers from the Phillies in February, Coonrod is attempting to secure a bullpen spot in Queens going into 2024. He’s eligible for arbitration through ’25.

Curtiss was diagnosed with a loose body in his throwing elbow, tweets Tim Britton of the Athletic. The 60-day IL placement officially ends his season. The 30-year-old righty has made 15 appearances for New York, working to a 4.58 ERA across 19 2/3 innings. Curtiss missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery. He’s eligible for arbitration twice more but could be non-tendered at year’s end.

Yacabonis has worked 13 2/3 frames over seven outings. He’s allowed 10 runs while working mostly low-leverage relief. A journeyman who has appeared in parts of six MLB seasons with five different clubs, he’ll have the right to test minor league free agency by virtue of multiple career outrights.

Padres Select Ben Gamel

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7:18 PM: The Padres have officially selected Gamel’s contract from Triple-A El Paso. Choi has been placed on the 10-day IL, retroactive to August 12, while Carlton has been moved to the 60-day IL. Carlton has been out with right elbow inflammation since July 1, making him eligible to return on August 30.

6:28 PM: The Padres are selecting outfielder Ben Gamel onto the 40-man roster, reports Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link). First baseman Ji Man Choi is headed to the 10-day injured list with a left rib strain. The Friars will also need to a make a 40-man roster move, though reliever Drew Carlton stands out as a speculative candidate for a move to the 60-day injured list.

Gamel has spent the entire season in Triple-A. The veteran signed a minor league pact with the Rays and hit .276/.402/.463 in 59 games for their top affiliate. Tampa Bay couldn’t find room in the MLB outfield and dealt him to the Padres last month. Gamel has continued where he left off, mashing at a .314/.402/.600 clip through 18 games with the Friars’ highest affiliate in El Paso.

The combined .286/.402/.490 showing across 332 plate appearances earns Gamel another crack at the big league level. It’ll be his eighth season in the majors overall. The left-handed hitter owns a .253/.333/.385 career line, including a .254/.336/.391 showing versus righty pitching. Gamel had an above-average .252/.342/.409 slash when holding the platoon advantage with the Pirates last season.

Mostly limited to the corner outfield, Gamel won’t bring much defensive flexibility. He’s a decent bet to perform reasonably well at the dish, though, potentially compensating for the loss of another left-handed bat. Acquired alongside Rich Hill at the deadline, Choi has walked five times but has yet to collect a hit in seven games as a Padre. The Friars have mostly used him as a lefty bench bat — offseason signee Matt Carpenter has remarkably gone since July 24 without getting into a game thanks to a .166/.296/.302 line — so Gamel could take Choi’s role off the bench.

Giants Select Johan Camargo

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The Giants announced they’ve selected the contract of infielder Johan Camargo. San Francisco also confirmed the selection of outfield prospect Wade Meckler and the designation of outfielder Luis González. Infielder Mark Mathias and rookie outfielder Luis Matos were optioned to Triple-A Sacramento in corresponding moves. To open a 40-man spot for Camargo, San Francisco transferred starter Anthony DeSclafani from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list.

Camargo gets back to the big leagues for a seventh straight year. The switch-hitting infielder had spent the ’23 campaign in Triple-A, moving from the Royals to the Tigers and then San Francisco. He just signed a minor league pact with the Giants over the weekend, reaching the majors after two appearances with Sacramento.

Between the three organizations, Camargo owns a solid .260/.339/.466 batting line. He’s been limited to 39 Triple-A games by an early-season injury. The 29-year-old has a fairly established track record, though. He owns an impressive .302/.375/.501 slash in a little more than 1000 career Triple-A plate appearances.

Camargo has a .255/.313/.410 mark over his MLB career. A productive everyday third baseman for the Braves between 2017-18, he’s settled into a journeyman role over the last few years. Camargo has hit .219/.271/.348 through 559 plate appearances over the past four seasons. The bigger appeal lies in his flexibility defensively. The Panama native has over 300 MLB innings at each of second base, third base and shortstop. Public metrics have given him roughly average reviews up-the-middle and plus marks for his work at the hot corner.

DeSclafani recently suffered a flexor strain in his throwing arm. He won’t throw until late September at the earliest and seems likely to miss the remainder of the season.

Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area first reported Camargo’s impending promotion.

Rockies Designate Cole Tucker For Assignment

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The Rockies announced they’ve designated utilityman Cole Tucker for assignment. The move opens an active roster spot for Charlie Blackmon, who is back from the 10-day injured list. Colorado also reinstated Sean Bouchard from the 60-day IL and optioned him to Triple-A Albuquerque. The Rox’s 40-man roster remains full.

Tucker had a brief stay on Colorado’s roster. The Rox selected his contract one week ago, plugging him into three games. He collected three singles and a walk in eight trips to the dish. He’s out of minor league options, though, meaning Colorado had to keep him on the active roster or DFA him once they called him up.

They’ll now have a week to put him on waivers. A career .214/.263/.316 hitter in parts of five big league campaigns, the 27-year-old Tucker had a solid .311/.419/.459 showing this season in Albuquerque. Since he’s out of options, any team that claims him would have to plug him directly onto the MLB roster. Tucker has been outrighted before in his career, so he’d have the ability to become a minor league free agent if he clears waivers again.

Blackmon returns after missing more than two months. The veteran outfielder fractured a bone in his right hand in early June. He’ll return to the lineup carrying a solid .265/.347/.422 line through 56 games on the season. Blackmon is playing this year on a $15MM salary and will be a free agent in a couple months.

Bouchard has missed the entire season after undergoing biceps surgery in Spring Training. The 27-year-old impressed with a .297/.454/.500 showing over 97 plate appearances in his first big league action last summer. He’ll get more time in Triple-A before returning to the MLB roster but could get a chance to carve out a role in the first base/corner outfield rotation down the stretch.

Giants To Select Wade Meckler

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The Giants plan to select the contract of outfielder Wade Meckler, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN (Twitter link). San Francisco is reportedly designating Luis González for assignment to create a 40-man roster spot but will need to make a corresponding active roster move.

Meckler, an eighth-round pick from Oregon State last July, moved exceptionally quickly up the minor league ranks. The 23-year-old finished last season in the low minors and began this year with High-A Eugene. He destroyed generally younger pitching and was bumped to Double-A by mid-May. Meckler didn’t slow down, hitting .336/.431/.450 over 39 appearances to move up to Triple-A two weeks ago.

The left-handed hitter needed just 10 games with the River Cats to force the organization’s hand. He raked at a .400/.546/.600 line at the top minor league level. Overall, Meckler sports a ridiculous .379/.463/.522 batting line in 294 plate appearances on the season. He’s walking at an elite 13.3% clip compared to a modest 14.6% strikeout percentage.

Meckler doesn’t have overwhelming physical tools. He’s only homered five times and swiped just six bases in 10 attempts. Yet there’s little doubt he has quickly raised his profile thanks to his excellent contact skills and strike zone awareness. In June, Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin of FanGraphs ranked him ninth among Giants’ prospects. Baseball America slotted him sixth in the system on their midseason update.

Both outlets call Meckler’s contact skills his carrying tool. He’s mostly a corner outfielder, though the Giants have given him 20 starts in center field this season. The extreme contact approach will be tougher to pull off if Meckler can’t stick in center field, but there’s little question about his minor league dominance. As Passan points out, he’s just the fourth player from the 2022 draft class to reach the big leagues — and the first non-Angel, as Zach Neto, Ben Joyce and Victor Mederos are the others.

Rays Select Jacob Lopez

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The Rays announced they’ve selected the contract of left-hander Jacob Lopez. It’s the first major league call for the 25-year-old southpaw. Tampa Bay had openings on the active and 40-man rosters after placing Wander Franco on the restricted list.

A 26th round pick by the Giants in 2018, Lopez spent just one year in the San Francisco system. At the 2019 deadline, the Giants shipped Lopez to the Rays for outfielder Joe McCarthy, who was in Triple-A at the time. The 6’4″ hurler has never gotten much attention in perennially deep Rays’ systems, but he has quietly put together a strong minor league resume. Lopez posted a 2.51 ERA in 15 appearances between High-A and Double-A two seasons ago.

2022 proved a lost season, as Lopez spent the whole year rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. He went unselected in last winter’s Rule 5 draft. Assigned back to Double-A to begin this season, Lopez picked up where he left off. He posted a 2.57 ERA through 28 innings to earn a bump to Triple-A Durham towards the end of May. Over 13 starts for the Bulls, he has allowed 2.72 earned runs per nine in spite of a hitter-friendly Triple-A environment.

Between the two affiliates, Lopez carries a 2.67 ERA across 84 1/3 frames. Working almost exclusively as a starter, he has fanned an excellent 32% of opposing hitters. His 12% walk rate is high, though it’s not uncommon to see pitchers struggle with command in the immediate aftermath of a Tommy John rehab. Lopez had walked just 7.4% of batters faced two seasons ago.

It’s unclear whether Tampa Bay will deploy him as a starter or break him into the big leagues out of the bullpen. He’ll offer a multi-inning option for skipper Kevin Cash in some respect. The Rays are in the seventh of nine straight game days, though they’ll have an off day on Thursday after their upcoming three-game set (ironically, against the Giants’ organization which originally drafted Lopez).

Giants To Designate Luis Gonzalez For Assignment

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The Giants are designating outfielder Luis González for assignment, reports Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic (Twitter link). The club has yet to announce the move.

González, 28 next month, first landed with the Giants late in the 2021 season. A season-ending injury had led the White Sox to release him that August. The Giants claimed him off waivers and kept him on the injured list for the rest of that season. They non-tendered him at the start of the offseason but immediately brought him back on a minor league pact and re-selected his contract last April.

The former third-round pick had a productive ’22 season. He tallied 350 plate appearances and hit .253/.323/.360. González only homered four times but hit 17 doubles, stole 10 bases and posted roughly league average strikeout and walk rates. He at least looked the part of a solid rotational outfield piece.

Unfortunately, injuries have derailed his 2023 to date. González battled back discomfort in Spring Training and was eventually diagnosed with a disc herniation. He underwent surgery in mid-March and was on the IL until last week. González has been off to a slow start in Triple-A Sacramento. Through 14 games (nine on a rehab stint, five since being optioned after his reinstatement from the IL), he’s hitting .241/.344/.308.

That’ll squeeze him off the roster and onto the waiver wire. With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, San Francisco has to waive González after the DFA. They’ll technically have seven days, though it’s likely they’ll do so within the next few days. There’s a decent chance he’ll be claimed after last year’s respectable showing.

González has one minor league option year remaining. If he spends 13 more days in the minors this season, he’d exhaust that option in 2023. He won’t be eligible for arbitration until the end of next season at the earliest.

Tigers Release Chasen Shreve

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TODAY: The Tigers announced that they have requested release waivers on Shreve.

AUGUST 11: The Tigers announced they’ve designated veteran reliever Chasen Shreve for assignment. The move clears a spot in the big league bullpen for Will Vest, who has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list. Detroit’s 40-man roster count drops to 39.

As first reported by Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press (on Twitter), Shreve has already gone unclaimed on waivers. Whether by rejection of an outright assignment or a release, he’s highly likely to become a free agent.

Shreve signed a minor league pact with Detroit over the offseason. The well-travelled southpaw cracked the Opening Day roster and would go on to make 47 appearances. While he posted only a 4.79 ERA through 41 1/3 innings, he had solid underlying marks.

The 33-year-old fanned an average 23.3% of opponents against a lower than average 6.7% walk rate. He kept the ball on the ground at a 46.8% clip and induced swinging strikes on an above-average 12.6% of his offerings. While it seemed that’d lead Detroit to trade him at the deadline, they apparently didn’t find sufficient interest to make a deal. Once the deadline passed, the non-competitive Tigers have decided to move on from Shreve entirely. He was an impending free agent, and the Tigers clearly felt the marginal dip in their bullpen quality over the season’s final seven weeks is a worthwhile trade-off for getting more reps to controllable arms.

Detroit is paying Shreve a $1.25MM salary. Just under $350K is yet to be paid out. Because Shreve was unclaimed on waivers, the Tigers will remain responsible for that sum. The organization could pull in some moderate savings from the release, however. Shreve had already unlocked $300K in innings-based incentives. He’d have triggered an additional $100K at reaching 45 and 50 innings, respectively (with $125K available at 55 and 60 frames). That’ll no longer be in play.

Once he officially returns to free agency, Shreve can pursue other opportunities. The incentives wouldn’t be available on any new contract, though perhaps he’ll find an immediate spot in a contending club’s bullpen. Another team would only owe Shreve the prorated amount of the $720K minimum for time spent on the MLB roster through season’s end. If he signs elsewhere by the end of the month, he’d be eligible for postseason play with his next team.

Reds Option Nick Senzel, Select Henry Ramos, Outright Eduardo Salazar

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TODAY: Salazar cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer (via Twitter).

AUGUST 11: The Reds announced a series of roster moves today, selecting the contract of outfielder Henry Ramos. In corresponding moves, infielder/outfielder Nick Senzel has been optioned to Triple-A Louisville while right-hander Eduardo Salazar has been designated for assignment.

Ramos returns to the majors for a second stint this season. The 31-year-old cracked the MLB roster in late April after signing a minor league pact last offseason. He appeared in 18 games, hitting .242/.356/.306 over a career-high 73 trips to the plate. Cincinnati outrighted him off the 40-man roster last month.

A 12-year minor league veteran, Ramos has only 36 games of big league experience. He’s having a strong year in Triple-A, putting up a .315/.399/.522 line through 54 contests with Louisville. He has walked at a strong 12% clip against a lower than average 19.2% strikeout rate while connecting on nine homers. A switch-hitter, Ramos has shredded left-handed pitching at a .367/.430/.556 clip between Triple-A and the big leagues this year.

The righty-hitting Senzel has also mashed against southpaws, putting up a .305/.367/.537 line with the platoon advantage. He’s a .175/.251/.281 hitter when up against right-handed pitching, however. Senzel hasn’t been effective against pitchers of either handedness of late, posting a .138/.206/.309 mark since the start of June. The former #2 overall pick now has a .219/.290/.368 batting line in 269 trips to the plate on the season.

It has been another underwhelming year for the former top prospect. Cincinnati has graduated plenty of top position player prospects over the past few months, pushing Senzel into a utility role. He’s now off the active roster entirely, optioned for his first minor league stint (excluding injury rehab assignments) since the Reds first promoted him in May 2019.

Senzel is playing this season on a $1.95MM arbitration salary. He is eligible for that process twice more after surpassing the four-year service threshold this spring. It seems increasingly likely he could be non-tendered, though. In just over 1300 major league plate appearances, the 28-year-old owns a .236/.300/.361 slash.

While Senzel remains in the organization and could yet get another look in the next six weeks, the Reds will place Salazar on waivers. The 25-year-old has made his first eight big league appearances this season, allowing 11 runs in 12 2/3 innings. He’d allowed only two runs (one earned) through 13 2/3 Double-A frames this year but has been tagged for an 8.24 ERA over 19 2/3 innings with Louisville.

Salazar has posted huge ground-ball numbers throughout his professional career. He has rarely generated big strikeout tallies, though he did fan upwards of 40% of opponents in his brief but dominant Double-A stint earlier this year. Salazar has ample starting experience in his career but has come out of the bullpen for all 33 appearances this season.

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